Having Strawberry Chocolate Cake and Eating it too
by ThePurpleMoon
Summary: Brooke/Peyton femslash. Peyton's thoughts and reaction to Lucas getting married.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Having Your Strawberry Chocolate Cake and Eating it Too

Rating: PG, maybe very light PG-13, as Peyton's mind does tend to swear.

Summary: This is a little look inside Peyton's head as to what happens after Lucas runs off to get married...She mopes. Brooke/Peyton. Femlash. This may or may not become a one-shot…I'm honestly not sure yet.

Feedback: I'd love some, of course, if you're willing to shoot some my way Thanks to everyone who reads this.

Author's Note: Sorry that I'm pretty random with my updates for anyone who is reading my Jessie/Katie story...My mind is all over the place lately, and it landed in the realm of Brooke/Peyton...Again This is femslash, so please don't flame me about that. If you aren't into girls/girls, then...please read other One Tree Hill fanfics.

Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill, or anything to do with it, unfortunately for me...

It's that time of the year. The time of the year in Tree Hill, in which someone is left in his/her bedroom pining over someone else. Okay, that happens more than the casual observer would think. But, Peyton Sawyer was in her bedroom moping, as she had been for about five days now; she hadn't moped in Tree Hill for years. In fact, she hadn't properly moped for years in general, even after the disastrous marriage proposal in California, Peyton hadn't moped. She had pushed herself into her work. When she had first seen Lindsey and Lucas together at the book signing, she hadn't even moped then. Cried, yes. Been angry, yes. Moped, no.

Moping, for Peyton, used to involve her being in her bedroom with something covering her webcam as she cried and drew. Now, moping for Peyton seemed to involve her lying on her bed and staring at the ceiling as the vinyl of her choice played in the background of her life. Give it a few minutes and maybe she'd pick up a pencil to draw.

Moping wasn't a pretty process. Brooke was gone for something; Peyton hadn't seen her since before the moping started. However, Nathan had stopped by once, and Peyton hadn't answered the door. He had threatened to break down the door, and so she had answered, even though she knew that realistically he wouldn't really break down the door. She answered anyway. He took one look at the mascara and eyeliner running down her face before giving her a hug. He hadn't stayed long, because he had to go pick up Jamie. Before he left though, he put a bag of groceries on her counter. He assumed she hadn't been eating much, and as soon as he shut the door, she grabbed a muffin from the bag. He assumed right.

Haley, on the other hand, stopped by almost daily. Sometimes, Peyton let her in, sometimes she didn't. She had been the one that had broken the news to her, so naturally, she felt a bit guilty. "Lucas got married." Married. He was officially no longer single in any sense of the word. It could have been Peyton that he had married, but it wasn't. It was…It was…

Oh fuck.

Peyton Sawyer had been in the house for five days now. She had finished crying a couple of days ago, and since then the drawing had increased, so had the sleeping. Every day since she had found out, she had assumed that the bride had been Lindsey. But now…Peyton realized that Brooke hadn't been home since that day either. In fact, Peyton hadn't heard from Brooke, not even a phone call, and they were roommates. Haley hadn't specifically said who Lucas had married…or maybe she had. The blonde had drowned out her friend soon after she had heard that Lucas was married.

Now, realization dawned on the blonde's face. Lucas had run off to marry Brooke. It made sense. They had always been friends. And lately, they'd become closer, as Brooke had taken care of the baby. Peyton had known that they had gotten closer, and both of them had their hearts broken in the past. Lucas' heart had been broken by Lindsey, and maybe, a few years ago, even by Peyton, herself. Brooke's heart, well, it had been slowly broken down by so many people, though Peyton suspected that a large part of it was due to Lucas and maybe a little bit of it from Rachel. It only made sense that Lucas would have to be the one to fix it.

Peyton's heart tore itself a new hole as the realization sunk in deeper. Not only was he not her Lucas, but he was Brooke's Lucas. Brooke had been her best friend, for most of her life. Brooke had been the first one she had told when her mother had died. In fact, she hadn't really needed words to tell her, Brooke just seemed to know, and even though they were younger and could not drive yet, Brooke had shown up soon afterward. Brooke had been the first person that Peyton had stay over at her house when they were younger. They had gorged on junk food and watched way too much television, and then they had talked for the remainder of the night. That was also Peyton's first all-nighter. At seven in the morning, Peyton and crashed, as had Brooke soon afterward.

For a while, their friendship hadn't been there, but that was when Lucas had gotten in the way. Not that he had really "gotten in the way" per say, rather he had existed, and he had been perfect. Well, okay, maybe he wasn't perfect, but both girls had fallen head-over-heels for him. He had that little smirk and chuckle that went together whenever something amused him, and he'd tilt his head downward with that same little smirk when he was embarrassed. He knew how to dance, well, he knew how to dance better than his half-brother, Nathan, not that that was hard to accomplish. Nathan couldn't dance at all. Peyton allowed herself a smile as she remembered Nathan always stumbling around trying to dance. For being an amazing athlete, dancing was most definitely not up his alley.

Lucas had gotten in the way of their friendship but at the same time, he had been important. He was Peyton's first kiss. Okay, not her first kiss; he wasn't even her first Scott kiss, as that belonged to Nathan. Technically, Brooke was her first kiss. When they were six, they had been playing around, and good-naturedly, Brooke had informed Peyton that she was going to kiss a boy at recess the next day. Peyton pouted for a moment, not sure why that upset her. Brooke had called her silly and given her a kiss. The brunette had decided, "You deserve my first kiss better than some silly boy!" A younger Brooke had informed her, and Peyton's pout had gone away.

Well, most certainly, Lucas had been the first one to break her heart. Nathan hadn't been the first Scott to break her heart, because her heart had never really belonged to Nathan in the first place. She and Nathan never really fit the way that he and Haley did. Though, maybe Lucas wasn't really the first one to break her heart. That might have been Brooke too, in a sense. They had promised each other that they would never let a boy come between them, and yet Lucas had. The moment that Lucas stepped into their lives, he had torn the girls apart, no matter how slightly it seemed at first. That was the first time her heart was broken. Though, Peyton had done part of the tearing, so maybe that was the first time that Brooke ever had her heart broken too…

Lucas had still always been there for her though. When Peyton had been drugged the one night at the party, it was Lucas who had rescued her. Well, okay, Brooke had been the one to find her, but Lucas had gone inside to find out what had been used to drug her with. When Peyton got lonely in Los Angeles, she called Lucas for support to feel better. The blonde called him until they had broken up anyway, then she only called Brooke, who was equally busy with her new business.

The Scott boy always got her best birthday and Christmas present ideas though. Actually, that was Brooke too. Peyton "stole" for Brooke, for every birthday. The brunette never knew that Peyton really paid for the presents, or maybe she did, but no matter what she gave Lucas, Peyton realized she had never done anything equivalent to "stealing" for him. That was an adrenaline rush for Brooke, and the blonde didn't even have any idea how to give one of those to Lucas.

Lucas did have a good taste in music though. She had to give him that. Brooke's taste in music was more centered on what she could dance to, not that Peyton had anything against her dancing…Brooke was an amazing dancer, definitely better than Nathan and probably better than Lucas. Because, fuck, she could wriggle her hips and Lucas couldn't do that. Peyton allowed herself a little snort of a laugh at the idea of Luke wriggling his hips while dancing.

Peyton rolled over on her bed. She wasn't quite sure when her complaints had turned into comparing Nathan to Lucas and Lucas to Brooke. Oh, right, it was when she had realized that her best friend had married her ex-boyfriend. To be fair, Brooke was Luke's ex-girlfriend first. But honestly, Vegas? That wasn't Brooke's type. Sure, it was flashy and spontaneous, but Brooke couldn't just go get married in Vegas. She needed a show. She would have to have the wedding announcements in all of the local newspapers, and she'd invite hundreds of people, and knowing Brooke, everyone would come. If they didn't come, Brooke would somehow know who wasn't there, despite the other hundreds of people there, and they would know that she knew that they weren't there. She'd have the wedding dress, that she would most likely design herself. And she would spike the punch at her own wedding, giggling a bit, hoping that the groom, who was holding her wedding dress up to keep anyone from seeing this, properly blocked the view. Actually, there was a chance that Peyton would have to be the one holding up the wedding dress at the wedding, as she was maid of honor, and Lucas certainly wouldn't condone such behavior at a wedding.

There wouldn't be any throwing of birdseed or rice after the marriage. However, there would have to be a shiny white convertible waiting outside for the newly married couple, ready to whisk them off to the airport, where they would end up somewhere sunny with a beach. A convertible was cuter than a limo, but it would still have to be white. The wedding cake would be half chocolate and half strawberry, perfectly swirled somehow down the middle, with a white vanilla frosting. Peyton and Brooke had agreed that it was the best cake, having both strawberry and chocolate together, when they were maybe twelve or thirteen and mixing random cake batters together one day when it was raining and they were bored. Plus, as they got older, they realized that it was romantic, like the chocolate covered strawberries of cake. The only drink served there would be champagne, and that punch, well, and of course, punch for the kids, which would be on a separate table, so that Brooke would know which one to spike…

Peyton sighed. Lucas' wedding on the other hand…Well, she imagined it would be much like the one that he and Lindsey had arranged, or perhaps his hopes were more like the one that he had in Vegas. No, Peyton decided, his wedding would be more like the first one. The second wedding was one that a broken Lucas had decided on. It was his fallback plan; his original plan would be much more classy and elegant and conventional. He'd let people throw the birdseed after the wedding if it's what made them happy. He'd want the cake that would make his bride happy, but Peyton thought of him as more of a vanilla cake kind of man. The cake would be in sheets, because it would be easier to serve, and there would be beautiful sayings on the top of each one. One would probably be chocolate, to balance out the vanilla cake, and the two would not intermingle unless the bride had chosen something different. He would go with a black limo, because he would believe it was the most elegant of cars, and in the back, he would keep two glasses, filled with something fruity and alcoholic, for the ride to the airport. If Nathan had his way, there would be cans tied on the back of the car, and Lucas wouldn't mind. Lindsey wouldn't have either. Brooke might.

Peyton's wedding…Well, she knew that she wanted the same kind of cake as Brooke, strawberry and chocolate swirled with vanilla frosting, but honestly, other than that, she was flexible. She liked the idea of her convertible being used, but honestly, any convertible would do for the ride to the airport. She would want dibs on the music, but other than that, she was flexible on the rest. Whoever she was marrying could help with that.

No. Peyton Sawyer had to stop thinking about weddings. Instead, she could focus on anything. Anything like…the current wallpaper on her computer. Fireworks. Yes, fireworks. They were pretty. In fact, once, Peyton remembered sitting with the gang at the Fourth of July fireworks display, and she was with Lucas, but he had gone off with Nathan to find Skills or something. So, she was with Brooke, and the fireworks had started, and he wasn't back yet, and somehow by the middle of the display, Brooke and Peyton found their hands intertwined. Haley and Rachel were fine, sitting without the guys, but Brooke and Peyton always liked to be able to cuddle with someone during fireworks. Fireworks were so romantic, and so it wasn't the girls' fault that by the end of the show, Brooke was sitting in front of Peyton, with her arms wrapped around her stomach. Peyton's head was resting on Brooke's shoulder until Lucas had interrupted them with a chuckle, "Mind if I take my girlfriend back, Brooke?" The brunette had made a sassy remark, something about his being too late, but she had moved anyway, and Peyton's hand intertwined with Luke's.

Lucas was a good guy, but he couldn't always be there. Like the time with the fireworks, Brooke was a good replacement for him. Though, Brooke had come first, maybe she wasn't the replacement. Maybe Lucas was the replacement. He began to fill in little bits of Peyton's and Brooke's life with his own. He was a good addition, but thinking back, Peyton had expected a lot from him. He had told her, almost as soon as she had met him, that he wanted her, including a relationship with her. Then, he had wanted Brooke. Peyton had wanted Lucas, but she didn't ever want anything to change with Brooke either. She didn't wanted things with Brooke to change even more than she wanted Lucas. Peyton wanted Brooke. Fuck. Peyton wanted Brooke.

She loved Lucas, but she had let him go. He asked her to marry him, and she had said no. Peyton wouldn't have said no to Brooke. When Brooke had refused to talk to her, she hadn't taken "no" for an answer, and she had fought for them. She hadn't left just because Brooke had an obnoxious boyfriend, like she did when she saw Lucas with Lindsey. She could have fought for him years ago, but she didn't. The idea of Lucas Scott is amazing, but the reality is Brooke Davis. The blonde suddenly realized that everything made sense. Brooke was her first kiss. Brooke was almost always there for her, minus that brief time with the Lucas fiasco. Lucas Scott was what Peyton wished she wanted, she tried to want him, but it was Brooke. It was always Brooke. If it was meant to be Lucas, she would have fought for him. Peyton Sawyer got off of her bed to change the vinyl, and she was suddenly glad that she had decided to stop crying a couple of days ago. Her revelation called for a new soundtrack for her life; she was in love with her best friend.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Having Your Strawberry Chocolate Cake and Eating it Too

Feedback: Thank you to everyone who sent me some last chapter! I really do appreciate it! I love getting feedback.

Author's Note: The words in bolded italics are dreams. The normal font is reality. This chapter is a bit long, but I just couldn't find the proper place to end it, so it droned on for a bit. And through you guys, I did begin to realize that I didn't really want to leave it at a one-shot. There should be at least one more chapter at this one, depending on how it works out when I write it.

Disclaimer: I still have no rights to One Tree Hill, especially not Breyton.

* * *

At some point in the day, it had become evening, and Peyton had moved from her bed to her couch. She had put in a CD, because that was what was hooked up to the stereo system in the living room. Peyton Sawyer had turned the CD up several notches, in hopes of making her forget, or rather, not forget, but not think about it for a little while. So, she was in love with her best friend, and her best friend had just married their ex-boyfriend, who Peyton had made a romantic gesture to just a few days before. The blonde wondered, albeit briefly, if these kinds of things happened to everyone or just her. Though, that didn't really matter either way. What mattered was the fact that it was officially night, and the songs just flowed so well…

Peyton allowed the songs to fill up a part of her that seemed so empty lately, and once she felt whole enough, through the music, she drifted off into the world of sleep. Really, she hadn't meant to fall asleep, but the couch was rather comfortable, and the music was rather pleasant to just have floating around in the background.

_**The ending of the CD woke Peyton up. The silence was suddenly overwhelming to her, and she wasn't quite sure what to do with it. Without thinking, she grabbed her cell, because she was pretty sure that even at this time of the night, especially since it was just a bit before midnight, so not too late, Haley would answer the phone to talk to her. Peyton hadn't felt like talking in days, and now, she just wanted to hear someone's voice. Blindly, she reached out and hit a number on her phone, knowing that she would have to hit the four in order to use the speed dial to get Haley.**_

_**The phone rang, and a voice answered with, "This is Mrs. Scott's phone; she's unable to come to the phone right now, because she's too busy being seduced by Mr. Scott…" No, that was wrong. Peyton's conscious was screaming at her. Something was wrong. The wrong button…**_

_**The voice droned on for several more seconds, until a voice in the background cut it off. "Lucas! What are you doing? What if that's my mom?" Peyton's mind began to spin unnecessarily, and instantly she realized she had hit the wrong button. She was hearing people, which was what she had wanted, but it was the wrong people.**_

_**There was a silence, and Peyton assumed that Lucas had just given Brooke a look. "Oh," Brooke chuckled to herself, but Peyton could hear it over the phone. "Victoria, if that's you, Lucas and I are having oodles and oodles of sex! Mind-blowing sex! We got married!" **_

_**She was shouting, and Lucas must have given her another look. "Oodles?" He questioned her word choice, and Brooke giggled. "And you really don't have to yell; she can probably hear you," he advised softly, and there was a sound of a kiss. "You can yell all you want if that's how it is," he murmured.**_

_**Peyton should have hung up ages ago, but she couldn't get herself to end the call. Lucas should have hung up ages ago, but both he and Brooke seemed a bit drunk and weird, either from just being happily married or from some champagne or something. Brooke's voice asked, "Who is it anyway?"**_

_**Lucas must not have looked at the caller ID when he had answered the phone or he would have never gone on the way he had. But again, Peyton reasoned with herself that he was a bit drunk, either with love or lust or alcohol, so she let it slide. "Hey," Peyton allowed herself that murmur at apparently the same time that Lucas looked at the caller ID and noticed her name.**_

_**He didn't say anything for a moment, and all of a sudden, Brooke's voice came over the line while sounding oddly smooth and sober. "Hey Blondie," she greeted easily. **_

_**And suddenly hearing Brooke talk to Peyton was too much. It was all too much, and without thinking, Peyton threw her phone against the wall. Neither the wall nor the throw was hard enough to completely smash the phone, but it was hard enough to officially smash it shut and to scratch the cover of the phone quite furiously. The phone began ringing, and Peyton went to look at it; Brooke was calling her back.**_

_**She was apparently a glutton for punishment, so she answered the phone. "Peyton," the voice was definitely Brooke. "I'm sorry." There was a pause, followed by, "Well, I'm not that sorry, but you snooze you lose." The laugh that followed it was brittle and sharp, not normal for Brooke. This time the slamming of the phone against the wall really did shatter the phone into pieces. The blonde had never imagined doing that before, but throwing the phone made her feel a bit better; at the very least the sound of Brooke's voice was gone.**_

_**Peyton bent down to scoop up the pieces of her phone begrudgingly. She should have looked at the numbers on her phone better when she had used the speed dial. Haley was number four, but she had obviously hit the wrong button. If she had hit any of the other buttons; it would have been fine, as Lucas was no longer on her speed dial. Number three was the studio, and number two was her dad. But, she had hit the button directly about the number four, she had hit number one, which was Brooke. Brooke was her number one. "Damn it!" She growled; her left side suddenly felt strangely pained numb, and she wondered how young was too young to have a heart attack. But then she didn't have much time to consider anything else, because the world was spinning and turning, and Peyton closed her eyes.**_

She opened her eyes to find herself lying on the floor next to the couch. Her left side was hurting, because that was the side she had fallen on when she had fallen from the couch onto the floor. Her phone was next to her, perfectly intact. There were no recent calls, received or dialed. It was a dream. It was all a dream. That explains why Peyton had thought that the two had suddenly strange. Lucas had never ignored the caller ID and told her about his and Brooke's sex life, and Brooke had never used that bitter laugh on Peyton.

Though, the CD really had ended, so Peyton went and started it again and turned it even louder. This time though, she went and took a long shower. There was no way that she was going to fall back asleep that easily anyway, so she took her sweet time in the shower, shaving her legs, washing her hair, and just enjoying the warmth that the water brought down on her. Eventually though, the shower had ended, and Peyton had slipped into a pair of comfy shorts and a tank top and climbed into her own bed. No more sleeping on the couch. For some reason, she had thought that it would have taken her a long time to fall asleep, but it really didn't. She could still hear the CD in the background faintly when her eyes fluttered close.

Peyton Sawyer didn't hear the front door open and close. She was too asleep to notice when the CD was shut off, and she didn't hear the door to her bedroom either. Had she been awake, she would have noticed the smile on Brooke's face, when she saw Peyton asleep. The brunette hesitated for a moment, obviously not sure if she should wait until morning to talk to her, or if she should wake her then. Peyton murmured something about an apron, and Brooke grinned and made her decision. She dropped her bags quietly on the floor and pulled off her jeans and her bra, so she could sleep more comfy.

The brunette noticed the blonde's twisting and turning in her sleep, obviously disturbed by something, so Brooke did what made sense, she crawled into bed with her. It definitely wasn't the first time that they had shared a bed, so it was natural. It was easy enough to slide over and drape one of her arms over the blonde's waist so that they were spooning. Brooke knew that this usually helped Peyton sleep. The twisting and turning eased, and Brooke allowed herself to snuggle in closer to the other girl, drifting off to an easy sleep.

_**The blonde awoke to the smell of coffee. She stretched and got out of bed, eager to go have some of that coffee. Normally, she would internally laugh at this situation, because only in commercials did the smell of coffee wake anyone else up enough to actually get out of bed to go get some, but Peyton wanted to see who was making the coffee, though she probably could guess who.**_

"_**Hey sleepyhead!" Brooke gestured at a cup of coffee sitting on the counter while simultaneously taking a drink of her own coffee and flipping a pancake over. "Hungry?"**_

_**Peyton took a long sip of coffee before allowing herself to speak. "Brooke," she began, and the other girl turned to look at her. **_

"_**What's up, P. Sawyer?"**_

_**The blonde struggled for a moment, eyes trailing the brunette's body, trying to find the right words, but she found there were none. "Why are you naked?"**_

"_**I'm not!" This was true. Brooke Davis was, in fact, not naked; she had on a pair of panties and an apron, though nothing else. She questioned, "Did you know we had this?" She gestured toward the apron and then shrugged when the blonde said nothing.**_

"_**But…" Peyton tried to make sense of the situation, but she could think of none. Maybe Lucas was there, and she was making him breakfast after a long night of…The blonde shuddered; she really hadn't wanted to go where her mind had just gone, into bed with Brooke and Lucas. Then again, Peyton would have known if Brooke was in bed, in the same house, with Lucas, or at least Peyton was pretty sure that she would have heard something, unless they had stayed on the couch…Damn couch. "Is Lucas here?"**_

_**Brooke's nose wrinkled in confusion. "No. Why would he be?" Instead of waiting for Peyton to answer, she flipped the final pancake onto a plate and walked over to the blonde. "If he was here, I wouldn't be able to do this." With that said, she leaned over and kissed Peyton, smirking a bit at the expression on the blonde's face. "I love your morning voice," Brooke whispered as she trailed kisses down Peyton's neck.**_

_**The blonde was pretty sure that some part of her mind was trying to get words out, but all that really happened was that she moaned a little and said Brooke's name. That was supposed to be her telling Brooke to stop, but all it really did was encourage the brunette. Then suddenly Peyton's hands seemed to have found the apron strings, and they were easily untying them. The final knot was a bit harder to undo than the rest, and it was enough to get Peyton to open her eyes and stop the current kiss that the two were sharing. "Brooke," she murmured, and the brunette pulled back a few inches farther and opened her own eyes.**_

"_**Yeah, P. Sawyer?"**_

_**The blonde's eyes had been searching the brunette's face for something, to help the blonde understand it, and suddenly she found what she was looking for in the brunette's eyes. "Your eyes aren't green, Brooke."**_

"_**That's a weird way to seduce me," Brooke chuckled. Seduce. The same word that Lucas had used in Peyton's last dream when he had talked about Brooke. Oh, fuck. That would explain it. This was another dream.**_

"_**This is a dream," Peyton sighed and untangled herself from Brooke, officially making the dream a lucid dream.**_

"_**It is?" Peyton nodded her head sadly. Brooke pouted, "Too bad…I really do like this apron. It would have been fun to have around the house in real life."**_

_**The blonde looked at her friend exasperated, "This is MY dream, Brooke." The brunette shrugged, obviously not quite realizing what that meant. "You're just a figment of my dream."**_

"_**We might be having the same dream," Brooke fought.**_

"_**You're dreaming about making-out with me?"**_

"_**Well, you are hot." Brooke grinned at the expression on the blonde's face. She shrugged, "I might be dreaming about you."**_

"_**You just married Lucas in real life. You're not dreaming about me."**_

_**This was apparently news to Dream Brooke, as her eyes widened significantly at this news. "I married Lucas?"**_

"_**Yep." Dream Brooke scrunched up her nose. "What, Lucas isn't what you want in this dream?"**_

_**Dream Brooke shook her head. "No, he's apparently not. You mention him, but I really just want to kiss you still…" She took a step forward and wrapped an arm around Peyton's waist, suggestively running the fingers on her other hand down the other girl's thigh.**_

_**Peyton bit her lip. "I'm not going to take advantage of Brooke in my dream." She muttered to herself while Dream Brooke ran her fingers back up Peyton's thigh, playing with the edge of her shorts.**_

"_**You're not taking advantage of me," Brooke stated calmly, still playing with the slight fray on Peyton's shorts. "This is definitely what I want…" Dream Brooke paused for a moment. "Wait, the real me likes sex right? I'm not a prude or anything, right?"**_

_**Peyton grinned and it was enough to get her out of her stupor. "You still definitely like sex in real life." She frowned, "Though you apparently like sex with Lucas, not me." Both girls had a similar frown on their face, as their considered this. The slamming door signaled to them both that someone had apparently come to visit them. "Did you invite someone over?"**_

"_**This is your dream, remember?"**_

"_**Hey," a seventeen-year-old Lucas Scott ambled into the room.**_

"_**Lucas?" Peyton questioned, and Lucas nodded. "Why are you…younger?"**_

"_**This is her dream," Brooke informed the confused lad.**_

**_Lucas accepted this easily, _**"_**How old am I in real life?"**_

"_**You're old enough to be coaching the basketball team you currently play on."**_

"_**And you're married to me!" At this outburst, Dream Lucas grinned.**_

_**Peyton sighed, "I should really just wake up now."**_

_**Dream Brooke shook her head. "There's obviously something we're supposed to help you with. That's what dreams are supposed to do usually; they're supposed to help you understand and sort through life."**_

"_**You're helping her by wearing that?" Lucas had been trying really hard not to comment on Brooke's attire, but he was a seventeen-year-old boy, and that was his future wife that he was gawking at.**_

_**Brooke nodded while Lucas shrugged. "I really need to work on my dreams," Peyton muttered, starting to get a bit grumpy.**_

_**Lucas looked at her thoughtfully for a moment. "So, in real life, I'm older, like you two here, and I'm married to Brooke?" Both girls nodded. "And Peyton, you're…" He took a moment, obviously trying to get over the fact that the two girls he was currently in love with, at his age, were completely different in a few years. "You're in love with Brooke?"**_

_**Brooke nodded, and Peyton smiled gently, "It sounds weird, I know."**_

_**Brooke bristled, "I don't see why it's so wrong to be in love with me."**_

_**Lucas grinned, "Apparently neither do we in real life."**_

"_**So, you told Brooke that you're in love with her, then she ran off and married me anyway?"**_

"_**Well, no," Peyton admitted. "I actually tried to tell you, Lucas, that I loved you, then you two went off and got married. I didn't realize I was actually in love with Brooke until after you two had been married for a few days."**_

"_**You never told me? After what almost just happened after I made you coffee, you didn't tell me that you were in love with me?" Peyton's glare made Brooke realize that their kissing had happened in the dream, not in "real life" as Peyton kept calling it. "Oh yeah," she paused for a beat again. "Well, I still think you should tell me. I mean, we're still best friends in real life, right?" Peyton nodded. "Then no matter what you shouldn't be able to screw that up. You can't just keep loving me without telling me."**_

"_**Even if she does stay with me, at least then you'll have told her."**_

"_**You'll feel better then."**_

"_**Much better." The Dream Brooke and Lucas nodded while Peyton took a long sip of coffee. **_

"_**I know that I'm younger than you two in this dream, and I know that I'm the one that ends up with Brooke, and I know that I'm currently in love with both of you at different times at my current age, but really, if you two were to end up together, I'd like to think that I'd be happy for you two." Both girls snorted, holding back their laughter. "No, really. I mean, you two were best friends before I came along, and even I've seen the looks that you two give each other. I know how hard it was for both of you when you weren't talking to each other, and even best friends don't have that kind of trouble when not talking to each other. That's the kind of trouble that Haley and Nathan have when they don't talk to each other." Lucas stopped to see if he was getting through to Peyton at all.**_

"_**If Lucas was older, I'm sure he'd be hot." Lucas beamed at the compliment, though Brooke had retied her apron strings, so she was decent, as long as you didn't go behind her. "But, when I look at you, Peyton, I feel something different. It's a good different, and I know I'm a figment of your imagination at this point, but I don't think you can change everything about me in the dream, even if you did change my eye color. I'd like to think that the real me has to feel at least part of what I feel for you."**_

_**Both of them looked at Peyton expectantly, and she was almost weirded out by how knowledgeable the two of them were in her dream, though they were both smart in real life, and this dream, like Brooke said, might be meant to help the blonde work through her thoughts/feelings. Besides that, she couldn't be too weirded out, as when she was younger, she saw the evil/emo version of herself everywhere, and not only that, but she talked to that version of herself. So, if that version of herself could help her work through her feelings, Peyton figured that her dreams couldn't be that far off from there. "I have to tell her, huh?" They both nodded. "Can I wait until she comes back?" They both nodded again, and suddenly Peyton was scared. "She will come back right?" Lucas tried to give her a hopeful smile, and Peyton didn't have time to look at the brunette before the world was spinning again, and the dream disappeared.**_

Peyton's eyes opened and blinked a few times. There was most definitely a weight pressed up against her back. There was also an arm draped casually over her hip. She glanced down at the hand; it was a girl. The breath on the back of her neck was slow and easy; the other person was obviously still asleep. She rolled over, to face the person who was behind her. "Brooke," she murmured, not that she had really expected anyone else. Honestly, had it been anyone else, it would have been weird, but it was still weird, because Brooke was supposed to be with her husband.

The brunette's eyes opened sleepily. She opened one eye first, as if to confirm that the blonde was talking to her, then when she saw that they were face to face, she opened the other one. "You're awake." Brooke smiled, still half asleep, "You talk in your sleep." Her right arm was still draped around the blonde, so she poked her in the side lightly to emphasize her point.

Peyton blushed, wondering what she had said, and then she realized something. "Your eyes are the right color this time." Brooke smiled and let out a soft laugh. "Your laugh is right this time too," she said amazed, slowly realizing that she was awake this time around.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I still don't own them…Damn.

Author's note: So everyone knows, I really do mean to update my stories more than I do, but something always seems to come up, so I apologize for that. I kept thinking about and rewriting this chapter, because I wanted to get it "just right" or as close as I could to how I kept imagining it in my head at work, because, hey, they might be able to make me get up at five a.m. for work, but they can't keep me from thinking of Breyton! Anyway, thank you to everyone who reads this, and I especially want to thank everyone who reviews. I appreciate it so much. I hope that you enjoy this next bit! :)

* * *

Brooke surveyed her friend for a moment, "You okay, Blondie?"

Peyton blushed once she realized that she was caught staring, "Sorry." She blushed a shade deeper, "You were in my dream," she admitted.

Brooke grinned, "A good dream?" The blonde looked puzzled, as though she was contemplating it, before simply shrugging. "Does that mean you're okay?"

Peyton took in Brooke's expression and the soft stroking of the brunette's hand on her hip all at once. She grumbled and rolled back over, facing away from Brooke. "Haley talked to you didn't she?"

There was a pause, before Brooke tentatively ventured in with, "So what if she did, Peyton? She's our friend." This time the blonde's grumble sounded slightly like a growl. "I'll tell you what; I'll go make some coffee before we have this conversation."

"Oh yes, surely we can't have serious a conversation without our coffee; I'd hate to fall asleep during it…" It made the blonde even more grumpy that Brooke wasn't eager for 'the talk' either.

"I'm going to ignore your sarcastic tone and pretend like you just agreed with me. It's sleepy Peyton talking, so she's grumbly. Coffee will help." Brooke sounded cheerful, and Peyton fought the urge to put the pillow over her head. After she heard footsteps leave the room, she allowed herself to put the pillow over her head, blocking out the irritating sunlight. Stupid Haley and stupid conversations.

Peyton ignored the thumping she heard in the room, assuming that if Brooke really wanted to have the conversation, she would let the blonde rest until the coffee was done. She probably just wanted shorts or something. Needless to say, she was surprised when she heard a voice. "What do you think you're doing, Peyton?"

Before the blonde could reply a second voice hissed, "She's sleeping!" This voice was male, while the first was distinctly female.

"She is not sleeping. She's avoiding me."

"I'd avoid you too!" There was a thump followed by the male voice again, "Ouch! Jesus, do you really have to hit that hard?"

Wait. Peyton Sawyer recognized these voices, but it couldn't be…"What the…" The blonde opened her eyes and removed the pillow from her head to find herself face-to-face with Dream Brooke and Dream Lucas. She hissed, "I'm awake! You two aren't supposed to be here."

"I told you she was awake," Dream Brooke gloated to Dream Lucas.

"Why are you here?"

"Technically, we can go into any sort of dream," Lucas explained.

"This is a daydream," Brooke continued.

"Real Brooke can't see us, Peyton." Lucas answered her question before she had asked it, and it kind of freaked her out. Having one hallucination, when it was herself, was bad enough, but Dream Lucas and Dream Brooke were even more irritating.

"Stay out of my head!"

"Technically, we can't do that." Peyton frowned at him. "We're part of your mind, since you conjured us up in the first place. Therefore, we have a direct link to your thoughts."

Dream Brooke was getting bored with their conversation, so she sighed dramatically until the two of them stopped to look at them. She glared at Peyton, "The point is what do you think you're doing?"

"Waiting for coffee?"

"You were not going to bring the conversation up. The real me had to mention it. We had a deal, P. Sawyer. You have to try."

"She's not wearing a wedding ring," Lucas offered.

"She usually takes off her jewelry before bed," Peyton explained. "When we were younger, we made friendship bracelets with elastic bands, and we slept with them on, showered with them on, did everything with them on…then one night, Brooke was having a weird dream, and she twisted or turned…anyway, she managed to move just right, so that the elastic band snapped, and the beads went everywhere…The next day, I came over to help her look for them, but the "P" was gone…"

Dream Lucas pieced the story together, "Hence her trying not to wear jewelry to bed?" Peyton nodded. "What were the bracelets supposed to say anyway?"

"Yours said 'Brooke Forever', didn't it?" The blonde wasn't sure if Dream Brooke was just reading her mind, or if she really knew that's how it went, but either way, she was right. "And Brooke's said, 'Peyton Forever'?"

Peyton nodded and Dream Lucas grinned. "What great bracelets for 'best friends.'"

"We were seven! And 'Best Friends Forever' was too boring for Brooke."

Dream Brooke grinned, "Of course it was."

"The point is she wouldn't have worn the wedding ring to bed, because she wouldn't want to lose that, and she probably wouldn't want to freak me out more since Haley talked to her."

Dream Brooke persisted, "You still need to talk to her."

"Just ask her about her weekend."

Peyton made a face, "You mean her wedding?"

"You can use a different word."

"Use…'ceremony'," Dream Lucas suggested.

"Peyton!" This time the voice came from the next room; it was the real Brooke Davis.

"You have to go!" Peyton hissed, but the others were already gone, just a figment of her imagination.

"Uh, excuse me? I am not leaving; I brought you coffee." Brooke raised an eyebrow at Peyton. "Are you sure you're okay?"

The blonde couldn't help the blush that crept up her face at that. "Sorry, I didn't mean to say that to you, I just…weird dreams. You disrupted them though, so thanks."

Brooke obviously brightened slightly at this, seeming to accept it, and handed over the second cup of coffee. There was a long moment of silence, filled only with sips of coffee. Half of her cup was gone before Peyton found the courage to murmur a question asking about how Brooke's ceremony had been.

This time, the brunette broke out in a grin. "It was excellent! Well, once everyone got their acts together, then it was good." Peyton began to stop listening to the words and just focused on smiling; she would not let Brooke know how unhappy she was about it.

"And how were your…clothes?" She couldn't bring herself to ask directly about the dress.

"Amazing!" Peyton began to wonder how the brunette could be so happy about it all; well, obviously she was happy, but the blonde wished she could tone it down a bit for now…"Everyone loved what I was wearing, of course, which was one of my originals, but the rest of the clothing was amazing too."

Brooke was lost in her thoughts, and so was Peyton for a moment. She was dwelling on what she thought Brooke's dress would look like when her mouth asked a question without registering it with Peyton's brain first, "Can I see the ring?"

The brunette blinked slowly, confused, "You wanna see the ring?"

"Yeah," Peyton murmured, feeling more awkward by the second. "If you don't wanna show me that's fine too, but I was just trying to…" The blonde paused to catch her breath and blink back tears. It was not fine. It was so far from fine that fine was not even visible in the distance, but she didn't want Brooke to know that. After a moment she continued with, "It's just that I'm supposed to be your best friend, Brooke, and I wasn't even there!"

Brooke hesitantly looked away from the blonde and up to the ceiling, over to the wall, down to the floor, and then finally back to Peyton, obviously feeling lost and out of place. It was a nervous habit that Peyton noticed. "I didn't know you felt that strongly about being there."

"I know it was under weird circumstances, considering who you were with, but I'd still want to be there…"

"I know Millicent doesn't usually go with me, but…"

"You brought Millicent with and not your best friend?"

"Well, she had been talking about wanting to go to Chicago, and she really has been working hard, while you don't even work there." Brooke raised an eyebrow at her friend. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Chicago?"

"Chicago. The windy city. You know? Where we opened a new store over the weekend; it was the opening celebration. I wasn't even supposed to have to go, but the clothes got sent to the wrong city at first, and then the building wasn't quite ready, and so they called me to come and try to pull everyone together. I'm sorry I didn't leave a note, but they called me an hour before I had to leave, but on the way out, I ran into Haley, and she said that she'd talk to you."

"Haley never told me that…" Though, honestly if Peyton were to think about it; Haley may have told her that. The blonde had a bad habit of tuning her friend out whenever she came to visit recently.

"Really? She promised me again that she would when she called me when I first landed in Chicago to…tell me about Lucas." Again, if Peyton were to think about it, Haley, maybe, probably, sorta, told her where Brooke was, but the blonde's mind didn't hear much after the story about Lucas and Las Vegas. "I'm sorry I didn't call you, Peyton. I focused on getting the store together, and that was all I focused on for a few days. I thought it would be a conversation to have in person instead, so as soon as the store actually opened, I got a flight back to Tree Hill."

"You came back for me?"

Brooke rolled her eyes at her friend. "Actually I came back right after the store opened, because I ran out of clothes."

"Oh."

"Peyton!" The brunette stopped her rant for a moment to smirk and lightly roll her eyes. "It was the opening of a clothing store, I had clothes. I was kidding. Yes, I came back for you, Friend." Peyton couldn't help the tears that came after the brunette told her that. She couldn't help the way that Brooke's arms wrapped around her in a hug either, or the way that the brunette's voice vibrated so amazingly against her hair when she murmured into it. "Oh, P. Sawyer, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. But, Lucas did try to marry her once already…"

The brunette tried to remind her friend of that casually, and it was only then that Peyton realized Lucas still got married, just not to Brooke. "He married Lindsey?"

Brooke couldn't help the, "Who else?" that slipped out of her mouth. She cringed when she noticed the tone that she had used on the blonde. "Sorry, but yes, he married Lindsey in Las Vegas. Apparently they had realized how they didn't want to be apart, and his being spontaneous showed her that he really…did care…I'm sorry Peyton."

The blonde was crying again, and even she wasn't really sure why. It might have been for losing Lucas, once and for all, but then again, she was more concerned about losing Lucas as a friend. She was pretty sure that her crying was more at her rashness in assuming Brooke had married Lucas. "I should have known you wouldn't get married in Las Vegas."

"Why would I get married in…Oh my God! You thought I married him?" Peyton just nodded into Brooke's shoulder. Brooke pulled back far enough to see into Peyton's eyes. "I would never do that to you, and I already have my wedding planned out; it does not take place in Las Vegas." She almost snorted out a laugh, "Seriously though, P. Sawyer? You thought I married him?" The blonde nodded again, still crying, and Brooke pulled her friend back into a hug. "I'm sorry I didn't come home sooner."

The blonde allowed the words to flow through her mind. Brooke didn't marry Lucas. Brooke had come home to her. Brooke…oh my God, Brooke's hands were doing this magnificent little rubbing motion on Peyton's back in an effort to calm her down, and Peyton could feel Brooke's breath as she inhaled and exhaled into her hair. "Brooke," she mentioned the name softly, but at their closeness, hugging and still sitting on the bed, the brunette heard.

"Yeah?" The brunette pulled back a few inches to study her friend's face again, and Peyton ignored the confused look on Brooke's face as she leaned forward and kissed her right cheek. Brooke smiled hesitantly at her, and then Peyton leaned forward and kissed her lips. It was a soft kiss, but somehow the blonde wasn't surprised when less than a moment after the kiss started, Brooke returned it. It was soft and sweet and somehow innocent; it was magnificent. Peyton began to feel her pulse quicken when Brooke pulled back and opened her eyes. A second later, Peyton opened her own eyes to stare into Brooke's confused ones. They were the right color this time, but they were clouded over. "What the hell was that?" Not the response Peyton was hoping for after the kiss to say the least. Brooke got off of the bed and took a step back from her friend. "Seriously, what the hell was that?"


	4. Chapter 4

Rating: PG-13. Mature themes. Maybe light R.

Feedback: I thank you so much to everyone who reviews. I really do appreciate it. It keeps me motivated!

Author's Note: Last chapter! This is a bit of a long one, but I really didn't know where to split it up…so, it all gets posted together. It took me a bit to get the end chapter the way I wanted it, but I'm happy with it now…I hope you are too :)

Disclaimer: I had a blast taking these characters out for a spin, but sadly, I do not own them at all. The hardworking folks involved with One Tree Hill do. And yes, part of the end rant by Brooke (the bit about it never being about Lucas) is slightly borrowed from One Tree Hill; it seemed to fit here too.

* * *

Peyton bit her bottom lip and murmured something intelligible. Her best friend just looked at her until she finally ventured out with, "It was a kiss?" She was glad that her crying had stopped; she had apparently run out of tears, because otherwise she was pretty sure that she would have been crying again after seeing Brooke's reaction to the kiss.

The blonde was used to Brooke being angry, well, she wasn't necessarily used to it, but she had seen it before. She would yell, like when she used to rant about Rachel, when they were both competing for maintaining control of the cheerleaders. Or, she might be bitter, like when Jake's ex-girlfriend, Nikki, had gotten with Lucas before he found out that she was Jenny's mom. She might throw things like the time that she didn't get to go on the school field trip to the zoo, because her mom had never been home to sign the permission trip; she had thrown her stuffed tiger since she was only eight at the time. Peyton's dad, who had been around, made a few calls, and he drove Brooke to the zoo himself, since she wasn't allowed on the bus; Peyton rode with them.

Then, there was the time that Peyton and Lucas had been together behind Brooke's back. That time…That time trumped all. She had yelled and screamed; Peyton and Brooke had even gotten into a physical fight in the blonde's yard. Then, Brooke hadn't talked at all to Peyton; in fact, she avoided her when she wasn't making nasty comments, which she did often. She had joked about Peyton's dead mother. But…The look that Brooke was giving her now almost made the blonde want that Brooke back. She looked furious as she glared, but there was sadness in her eyes that Peyton didn't understand. "Peyton, seriously, what the hell was that?"

The blonde tried to make it seem innocent and simple. "It's not the first time we've kissed, Brooke."

Brooke seethed, "We're not six anymore, Peyton, and that wasn't any dare that I knew of. And back then you weren't crying over our ex-boyfriend."

Peyton didn't have to daydream to know that Dream Brooke and Dream Lucas would be urging her on at that moment, to just say what she wanted to say. It was then or never. The look that Brooke was giving her made her think that maybe it would be never. The brunette seemed to soften slightly at the look of distress on her friend's face. "Seriously, P. Sawyer, why did you kiss me?"

"I…" The blonde trailed off, not sure where she wanted to go with her own statement. "I need more coffee," she picked up her half-full mug and semi-trotted out to the kitchen. She could hear the groan of mixed frustration and anger come from her friend as she left the room.

* * *

Brooke was unsure of what to do with herself once Peyton left the room. She contemplated following her into the kitchen and pestering her with questions, but she knew that wouldn't work with Peyton; it would just back her even more into a corner. She just really wished that Peyton hadn't decided to kiss her just because she missed Lucas. Okay, Brooke understood that she missed Lucas, but you can't just kiss whoever you want…especially not when you're Peyton. Brooke was used to kissing random people, but Peyton wasn't supposed to do that; it wasn't her.

Yes, Brooke Davis had kissed a lot of people, but a lot of it was because no one had ever felt quite right to her when they kissed. She had kissed Nathan, Lucas, Mouth, Felix, Chase, and even Rachel after one particular extraordinary showing of Clothes Over Bros clothing and a Long Island Ice Tea or two or five. In all honestly, she had done a lot more than kissing with quite a few people, but it still wasn't something Peyton was supposed to do. Brooke had kissed people when she was upset too, but you were not supposed to kiss your best friend when you were upset. Peyton wasn't supposed to do that; that was Brooke's kind of thing. Just like moody music that the brunette only sometimes understood was Peyton's thing. It was a rule somewhere; that she was sure of.

Her mind was running wild, still trying to figure out why Peyton was acting so weird when she noticed the sketchbook on the floor. There had never been a problem before with her going through the blonde's sketches, so she picked it up, in hopes of getting an insight as to what the blonde was thinking. She knew that drawing was another one of Peyton's _things._ It couldn't hurt to look.

The first sketch was of a guy wearing a wedding tuxedo. He had blonde hair, and he looked almost exactly like Lucas Scott. He was holding a wedding ring that had apparently grown rather large in size as he looked surprised and the ring was nearly as big as his head. Words such "Lindsey" and "commitment" and phrases such as "I do" and "never again" made up the band of the ring. Brooke almost felt herself smile; it was easy to see how Peyton was feeling that day. It must have been right after she had tried to win him back over, and Haley had told her about the wedding, before she had thought that Brooke had married him.

She flipped to the next page, and this one featured two people who appeared to be Brooke and Lucas. Lucas looked as perfect as grooms are supposed to look and was looking at his bride-to-be, and his bride-to-be was in a beautiful dress. The dress wasn't shaded, so she assumed it was meant to be white, of course, and it was sleeveless, with just the right amount of Brooke's styling. Huh, apparently the blonde had been paying attention when the brunette would make her look at her sketches; it was something she would actually wear, well, minus the one bit of lace…but really, it was close. The Brooke in the drawing was staring at the third person in the photo, Elvis. Well, really, it wasn't the real Elvis, Brooke supposed, as Peyton had given him thinning hair and an overly cheesy Elvis smirk, but he was the one who was supposed to be marrying them. There was a caption above the drawing in which Peyton had written, "_**She shouldn't have to settle**_," in small dark loopy lettering.

This one threw Brooke a bit for a loop and made her chuckle all at once. Peyton knew the kind of wedding she wanted, and it definitely wasn't in Las Vegas. The third drawing featured a confused-looking Peyton in three separate frames. The first frame contained Peyton looking at her left shoulder, where a small Brooke in an apron sat smiling happily. The second frame contained Peyton looking at her right shoulder; it was empty. The third frame had a younger looking Lucas sitting on her head, looking down at her. Peyton's eyes were strained upward to try to see him.

Again, that was one that Brooke didn't quite understand; she supposed it meant that she and Lucas were Peyton's conscious. Well, maybe. She may have been Peyton's best friend for years, but that doesn't mean that even she was able to ever completely understand the blonde's drawings…which still didn't really make that much sense. But it looked like one of them must have been the devil and the other the angel or something to that effect. That would be weird. For a moment, she wondered which of them would have told Peyton, if they were her conscious, to kiss her. Then, she flipped to the fourth page. It was blank. Huh. Brooke shut the sketchbook feeling more than a bit guilty; it was as though she had just read Peyton's diary, and yet she was still confused. "Have fun?" Brooke glanced up to look at Peyton. She didn't look angry.

"I'm sorry."

Peyton shrugged, "You keep apologizing this morning, but you shouldn't apologize, especially not before you see the other drawing I did while you were gone." She went over to one of her dresser drawers and carefully slid out several black band t-shirts before pulling out another drawing. She held it out to Brooke, but before the brunette took it she looked at Peyton who nodded, "Take it."

Brooke wasn't sure why she was suddenly nervous, but she was. She flipped the drawing over and tried not to let any reaction register on her face. It wasn't successful; her mouth formed a little 'o' of surprise, and Peyton chuckled. "I told you not to apologize before you had the full story." This one was more simple than the other drawings in the fact that it only contained two people from the waist up, but the details in what was drawing gave it the clear meaning that it was Brooke and Peyton in the drawing. Peyton had both her hands wrapped around one of Brooke's and was pressing it up against the area in her chest where her heart would be. Both of them were smiling hesitantly in the photo.

The brunette looked up to see her best friend wearing a similar hesitant smile to the one in the photo. "I don't understand…"

"I think you do." Peyton was biting her bottom lip nervously again. "I did a lot of thinking while you were gone. Well, a lot of thinking, sleeping, and drawing. But no matter what I was doing, I couldn't get you out of my mind. I thought that you had married Lucas, Brooke. It didn't upset me the way that I thought it would. I mean, obviously I was upset that Lucas had not chosen me at first, but then I realized that Lucas never was the one for me. He never was the one that I found the perfect presents for. He never was the one I fought for when he was dating someone I didn't like...you were." Peyton didn't dare look away from Brooke's eyes; she was afraid that if she blinked the brunette would disappear.

She took a deep breath before continuing, "When you were Felix, I remember feeling so relieved when I got you back, and I remember how jealous I was when you were with him. I was afraid of losing you, and it took me awhile to realize just how afraid of losing you I was. When I saw Lucas with Lindsey…It took me forever to even begin to deal with it. I just let him go, but you, Brooke Davis, I can't let go of you…I'm in love with you." Peyton expected herself to begin crying by this point, but she was okay. She just wanted to say it all. "I kissed you, because I finally realized how much I want you. I was crying, because I realized how close I was to losing you without ever telling you how I really felt, how close I was to not realizing how I really felt even."

Brooke stared at Peyton for a moment before looking up at the ceiling and sighing. When she turned back, Peyton had taken joined her in sitting on the bed and was staring up at her curiously. "You're not in love with me, P. Sawyer."

"Why?"

"Because I would have known!" Peyton's eyes stared at her curiously. "I know when people are checking me out. I could have graduated valedictorian if the classes were about knowing who was into you. I knew that Felix wanted me, though he was pretty obvious. Mouth was a bit harder, but I still knew, though I tried to avoid it…I just hoped that one would go away." She didn't want to mention when she and Nathan were drunk and fell into bed together. She even considered not mentioning Lucas, but that one couldn't really be avoided. "I knew when Lucas wanted me. Hell, I knew when Lucas wanted you." She sighed, "That's one thing I'm supposed to know how to do, but you're trying to throw it off."

"Maybe you didn't know, because I didn't know right away either?" She looked at Brooke, glad that she hadn't run any farther than a few feet off. "Maybe you didn't know, because, I'm a girl?"

"I know when girls want me." Peyton raised a single eyebrow, questioning her friend. She waved a hand easily dismissing it with must a murmur of, "Rachel."

"Maybe it's because you don't…feel the same?"

Suddenly Brooke was angry again. "Peyton, just stop guessing! You're not going to get it. I knew when people wanted me before when I didn't want them too."

"Oh," Peyton backed up a foot or so. "Sorry," she mumbled.

"I didn't mean it like that…" Though, she did mean it like that, she just didn't mean to yell it like that. The blonde was still looking at her warily, as though she was wondering if she was going to yell again. "Look, Peyton," she tried to begin again, but she only got as far as scooting over closer to the blonde on the bed and looking her in the eyes when her words faltered. She tried again, "I just," but the words wouldn't quite come out. Maybe it was from the way Peyton was staring at her, or the way that the blonde's eyes flickered quickly from Brooke's eyes to her lips, but suddenly the words just…

Brooke kissed Peyton. There was a little gasp as Brooke slid her tongue into Peyton's mouth, though neither girl was really sure whose gasp it was. Peyton was caught a bit off-balance and was leaning backward even before the brunette traced her fingertips from the blonde's wrist to her cheek and wrapped her left arm around Peyton's back, effectively sliding them into a lying-down position. During part of this, Peyton seemed to realize that she was helping move Brooke closer by intertwining her arms around the brunette's waist.

The blonde's arm seemed to have a mind of its own as it played with the bottom of the brunette's shirt, finally twisting it to the side and venturing up onto a smooth stomach. This time the gasp was most certainly Brooke's, though the one that followed when the brunette began to move her lips down onto Peyton's neck was most certainly the blonde's.

It was sometime just after Peyton had managed to work Brooke's shirt off and throw it against the door and just before Brooke was starting to flirt with the edge of Peyton's shorts that Peyton remembered Brooke was supposed to be angry at her. She had yelled just moments before the kiss. Oh my God, she was having hot hate sex with her best friend! Well, they weren't having sex yet, and suddenly Brooke's hand had most definitely crossed the edge between flirting with her shorts and…"Oh my God." That moan was most definitely Peyton's again. Oh, fuck. No. Hate sex. No hate sex.

Peyton forced herself to focus as she stopped kissing Brooke and started to untangle them. "You can't have hot hate sex with me."

"Hot hate sex?" Brooke's voice was a bit different than usual; it was a bit lower, and she was biting her lip. The blonde had to look away for a moment to remember what she was talking about. Only she could prevent forest fires and hot hate sex with Brooke Davis.

"Yes, you were doing that thing with your tongue and your teeth and my neck that probably is going to give me a hickey." For a moment both girls grinned slyly, then Peyton remembered what she was rambling about. She looked at her best friend for a moment, confused, "You freaked out when I kissed you earlier tonight, and now this." She gestured between the two of them. Her shorts were slightly askew. Both of them had "bedhead" and Brooke was shirtless.

Brooke really didn't like having talks about feelings. She avoided them whenever she could. This didn't look like one that she could avoid. "It's not my fault that I figured out I was in love with you a few years before you realized it." Pause. "I just wanted to make sure you meant it earlier…"

Brooke looked back up at her friend. Her eyes were honest and her voice was quiet. Peyton, apparently catching Brooke's quietness, whispered, "You figured out you were in love with me years ago?"

"You don't get it, do you? It's not even about Lucas; it never was about any boy, because it's about you. During the school shooting, I felt like I abandoned you. I didn't mean to, you just weren't there suddenly in the haze of it all…Then later, I found out that you kissed Lucas when he found you, and I always just kinda wondered if maybe I was supposed to have been the one that found you. But you and Lucas seemed happy together, so I dated some people." Peyton threw her friend a look.

"Okay, I _**met**_ a lot of people," she really didn't want to say that she slept with a lot of people. "This sounds weird, but I was hoping that one of them would make me feel the way that I do when I'm with you, only, just hanging out with them, none of them did…so I took it a step farther with them, but that still didn't help. In fact, I usually only got more bored with them." She looked at Peyton's face for support and was rewarded with the blonde's hopeful eyes. "I sound crazy, don't I? I was trying to convince myself that you couldn't possibly be the one by being with other people, but it really always came back to you." This time the reward was a smile. "Seriously, P. Sawyer, after everything from your striping off your shirt in school and my breaking up with Felix over the locker scandal, and after crazy Nikki stealing both Jenny and almost Lucas…after dealing with Psycho Derek and still going to prom…after skinny dipping…how could there be enough room in my life for anyone else like that?"

Peyton's face reflected exactly how Brooke felt on the inside as she mentioned each memory. From the disgust of Felix and the anger of Nikki to the frightening Derek and the, well, fun of skinny dipping. Brooke relaxed a bit more when Peyton's smile returned after the last bit. "I love you, P. Sawyer. Plain and simple."

"You're never simple, Brooke."

"You're never plain." They shared a grin and there was a moment of silence where neither knew where to go from there. It took just a moment before Peyton stood up and stretched, effectively breaking the silence before even speaking. "I need some more coffee." Brooke's eyes widened dramatically.

"What? You're going to get coffee after that?" The brunette was incredulous until she saw the small smirk that the blonde was trying to hide. Oh, so that's how it was. She stretched too, "Coffee sounds good." The blonde seemed to remember that Brooke's shirt was suddenly elsewhere, though thinking back, she never would be sure how she had forgotten that.

"Uh huh," she murmured, already reaching to pull the brunette to her. Brooke feigned resistance before doing _**that thing**_ with her tongue and her teeth against Peyton's neck again. "Brooke Davis, I really do love you."

Brooke smiled and pulled back a few inches, "And I really do want coffee." Her smirk lasted until Peyton's hands found their way back around Brooke's waist and let her fingers glide across the soft skin of her back.


End file.
